Off The Record

3-Year-Old Boy Called “Ginger And Ugly” Because Of His Looks, But His Reaction Breaks My Heart

Published on March 9, 2024

After being picked on because he was red, a three-year-old boy asked his mother why he had “horrible” hair. Her answer has gone viral online.

Lauren Russell got upset on Facebook when she saw her son Noah Gilbert being picked on because of the color of his hair.

People in school uniform started making fun of her son’s ginger hair as she got on a bus with him. The 24-year-old from Southampton was with him.

She says that some of the responses were, ‘I would hate my child to be ginger, I would kill it’ and ‘All kids with ginger hair should go straight to social services’.

Noah, who was only three years old at the time, heard what was said and later got mad and asked why he couldn’t be blonde like his bigger brother Charlie.

He asked Charlie why his blonde brother had “horrible hair,” and Charlie said it was “beautiful.”

Ms. Russell was so mad that she wrote on social media about how angry she was. ‘He hasn’t stopped asking me why people don’t like his hair. He asked me if I could change it for him so people will like it. I can feel my heart breaking every time he asks me.

‘It isn’t okay to bully somebody for their hair colour, not now. Not ever.’

There are now a lot of supportive messages and pictures of other kids with red hair pouring in. Her post has more than 18,000 likes.

There have been rumors that Noah looks up to Ed Sheeran, Prince Harry, and Damian Lewis because they all have red hair.

She said, “This is so unfair because it’s hurt Noah so much.” I have naturally red hair too, and I remember being picked on as a kid, but not when I was three.

‘Noah’s now really aware of his hair colour and thinks it’s horrible. He doesn’t understand why he isn’t blond like his siblings. I couldn’t believe these spiteful teenagers could upset my son like that.’

She added: ‘Since sharing what happened on Facebook, I’ve had hundreds of people messaging me from the UK, all showing support and saying how gorgeous Noah is. When I read all the nice comments to him, his face was priceless.

‘I hope he’ll be able to forget the nasty remarks now, but I still want an apology from the teenage boy. I’ve already contacted the high school he goes to so that he can say sorry to Noah in person.’

Aside from Noah, Ms. Russell and her 28-year-old window fitter partner Nathan Gilbert also have Charlie, who is five years old, and Jacob and Zachary, who are seven months old. All of them have light hair.

Even though Noah says his hair is “orange,” he had never been upset about it before.

Ms Russell said: ‘We got on the bus after picking Charlie up from school like every other day. There were a couple of boys at the back and one boy said loudly, “I would hate my child to be ginger, I would kill it.” Then he said, “All kids with ginger hair should go straight to social services.”

‘I saw Noah staring at him and he’d definitely taken the comments on board, so I said to the boy, “How dare you?” But all he said was he hadn’t noticed my son was ginger.

‘He only looked about 13. That was what worried me the most – that a schoolboy can turn around and say something so cruel.’

She added: ‘That night, Noah said he wished he had the same hair as Charlie. He said to Charlie, “I have horrible ginger hair, don’t I?” But Charlie told him he had beautiful hair.

‘He has never mentioned his hair colour in the past. It has never been a problem for him before. When he learned his colours he would say his hair was ‘orange’, but that wasn’t something to be bothered about.

‘IT ISN’T OK TO BULLY SOMEONE FOR THEIR HAIR COLOUR, NOT NOW. NOT EVER’: LAUREN RUSSELL’S FACEBOOK POST IN FULL

Today my heart broke in two. Whilst travelling on a public bus number 12 I witnessed such cruel behaviour towards my 3 year old son from a very narrow minded boy who couldn’t be much older than 13.

Unfortunately this hasn’t been the first time and I know it won’t be the last. He’s been targeted by people of all ages.

And what for? Because he has ginger hair. My beautiful boy was told social services should have taken him away because his hair colour is disgusting. The boy then turned to his friend and said if he ever had a ginger child he would kill it. Now my little boy is only 3 and was left very confused.. I feel devastated as I to have ginger hair and no all too well what it’s like to grow up being singled out/ the target of such bullies.

He hasn’t stopped asking me why people don’t like his hair. He asked me if I could change it for him so people will like it. He asked me if he could be like his brother who doesn’t have ginger hair. I can feel my heart breaking every time he asks me. My little boy looks so sad and I want to make it better.

The reason I am trying to go public with this is because I know these cruel bullies are in the minority. I want to show my little boy that there is more good in this world than bad. There are kind and caring non judgemental people who won’t ever single him out.

I ask you all to please share this and show my boy how beautiful he is. I want to show him the good in this world with the power of Facebook. It isn’t okay to bully somebody for their hair colour, not now. Not ever. Thankyou xxx

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